Qualification: A Level French or German (AQA)
Course Tutor: Miss K Rhoden and Mrs Brown
Course entry requirements: General A level entry requirements including at least a 6 at GCSE French or German. Students will need to have attempted the higher level exams at GCSE.
Course description
The A Level courses in French / German are two year courses and aim to provide students with the skills to be able to understand and to communicate in the foreign language effectively as well as providing an insight into the culture of the contemporary society of where the language is spoken.
A Level course topics are:
Aspects of French/German society: Family, cyber-society, voluntary work, multicultural society, social exclusion and criminality.
Artistic culture of the country: cultural heritage, music and cinema.
Political life: voting, demonstrations, strikes and immigration.
A film and a piece of literature in the foreign language are also studied.
Students learn through a variety of activities such as reading authentic articles, discussions in the language, internet research, presentations, translation into and from the target language and essay writing.
There are also opportunities to undertake a work experience placement in France or Germany.
Examination
The A Level exam:
Paper 1-Listening, Reading and Writing - 50% of the final grade
Paper 2-Writing - 20% of the final grade
Paper 3-Speaking - 30% of the final grade
Coursework
There is no written coursework for A Level French or German but students will need to prepare thoroughly for the discussion section and the presentation of their independent research project for the speaking exam and for both sections of the writing exam.
Students at A Level write two essays of 300 words under exam conditions about the film and literature studied during the course.
At A Level students need to translate both from the target language into English and from English into the target language.
Post-18 Opportunities and Employment
Only 6% of the world’s population speaks English as their first language and 75% of the world speak no English at all. A language qualification is highly regarded by employers and there are linguists employed in a wide variety of careers ranging from the armed forces to lawyers, accountants, business management, publicity etc.
Experts reckon that the UK could double its trade with Europe if we overcame our language barriers. The languages deficit in the UK has become an urgent economic, social and political question. The realities of globalisation make the speaking of languages more important than ever.
Many of our A level students have continued to study a Language at University.
If you would like more detailed information about the content of this course, please visit the Modern Foreign Languages curriculum page, where you will find curriculum maps for each year of study.
